The future of education looks different, experts say

"It's not just stand and deliver anymore."

And we're going to start with education.

Schools have been closed for weeks... and for graduating seniors... the memories of this special time are unlike anything we've experienced before.

But as kezi 9 news reporter emma jerome shows us -- experts believe the pandemic could forever change the future of how we learn.

Regan gurung "there's probably more we will gain from soldiering through this than we would have lost."

Emma jerome: "digital learning has become a powerful tool in connecting people all over the globe during this time.

Education experts are saying that on the other side of this, they believe the challenges we've overcome will only make us stronger" regan gurung "something else that is really neat here is that we are learning of ways that technology can supplement and compliment what we do in ways that we didn't know before" regan gurung, an education expert from osu says this new way of learning offers some students the opportunity to have a more equitable learning experience "you may find a student who usually would sit in the back of a classroom who feels like thier voice isn't being heard, well now you can make it heard."

The world economic forum projects that education will change in three major ways the first is that when education is pushed to change, it could lead to surprising innovations regan gurung: "i think what's going to happen is, it's going to make us by virtue of the fact that there are some individuals and not just programs, but some individuals in some specific courses who would have never thought of trying online well now we were forced to."

Dave collins: "it's not just stand and deliver anymore.

David collins, assistant superintendent for springfield public schools says they have been forced to find ways to make learning impactful without real face to face time it's engaging it's caring, connecting and then finding ways to access the brilliance and real life experiences that can demonstrate proficiency" the second is they anticipate public private educational partnerships will grow in importance but they also say the digital divide could widen ej: "experts say that this will change the future of education - but they also identify challenges we are facing across the nation - for many internet is not accessible and adds another barrier in distance learning" dave collins"technology isn't equitable out there and neither is access to technology" according to the fcc - in 2019, over 21 million americans lacked access to broadband availability even still with this new learning landscape only in its early stages - both gurung and collins say the future looks bright dave collins "optimism and hope.

I am hopeful because of the way we have rallied as a community for all and i am optimistic that if we can navigate a challenge this large - we can navigate anything" regan gurung "there's clearly a will and there are clearly many ways."

Reporting in eugene emma